Staff / Nathan Self
Julia Forbes, the High Museum of Art’s head of museum interpretation, speaks about the artwork and sketch books of Buckhead artist Susan Cofer, whose work is on display for the ‘Draw Near’ exhibit.

Susan Cofer has been creating artwork with colored pencils for 40 years, and has about 36 years on display at the High Museum of Art in Midtown.

Each of the Buckhead resident drawings displayed in her exhibit, “Draw Near,” starts with an irregularly torn piece of paper, which gives her a “sculptural start,” she said, and reminds her that nothing is perfect.

“In the beginning, the work was just a meditation and a contemplation, just to get away from the expectations as a wife, a mother and a person who lives in a society where you want to contribute. I was just trying to just calm down from all of that and think of the big questions, like ‘Why are we here?’” she said. “I always use vertical lines. … Those lines have a space between them, even though I layer on top of them. Those rules have been consistent.”

However, Cofer said she changed over the years by pushing both herself and “the boundaries” to understand what she can do with those rules.

“Men were always able to get by with any kind of imagery because they were men,” she said. “There are some drawings that look like body parts. I know people responded to my work in that way. … We [women] are the source of life. … If that offends a man, I don’t understand it.”

On display is also Cofer’s drawing journals from her travels in the Middle East, sculptural objects and drawing tables adorned with relief carvings themed from the natural forms in her drawings.

“Nature is the main source of inspiration and seeing nature as a metaphor, in a sense of trying to understand life.” she said. “I think being driven to understand the hardest questions is why I keep drawing.”

If you go:o What: “Draw Near”

o When: now through Jan. 27

o Where: High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree St., Midtown

o Tickets: $19.50 for adults, $16.50 for seniors, $16.50 for students and $12 for children

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